Robert Dreyfuss, author of The Dreyfuss Report blog for The Nation, discusses the conflict between Obama and Gen. Petraeus over an Afghanistan withdrawal timetable, why a left-right alliance is unlikely because of intransigence on domestic issues and disinterest in foreign policy, the shifting Iraqi political coalitions that may indicate another poor electoral showing for Shiite religious parties and why the shut-out of US oil companies vying for Iraqi oil contracts lessens the incentive for...
01/26/10 – Mark Ames – The Scott Horton Show
Mark Ames, regular writer for The eXiled, discusses Russia’s transition from neoliberal Yeltsin to nationalist Putin, the US 'economic hit men' advisers to Yeltsin who facilitated the rise of the oligarchs, the huge decline in Russian life-expectancy rates in the 1990s, the trail of economic disasters left in Larry Summers‘ wake, how the 'cakewalk' victory of Gulf War I increased American bravado and militarism, the end of US meritocracy and why a more vigorous opposition is needed to stop the...
01/22/10 – Daphne Eviatar – The Scott Horton Show
Daphne Eviatar, Senior Associate in Law and Security for Human Rights First, discusses the Brookings Institution study that recommends codifying indefinite detention without trial, the government’s refusal to release some Guantanamo detainees who won their habeas corpus hearings and how the never ending 'war on terror' complicates the traditional practice of holding prisoners 'for the duration.'
01/22/10 – James Bovard – The Scott Horton Show
James Bovard, author of Attention Deficit Democracy, discusses the two-party conspiracy against justice since the Independent Counsel’s expiration in 1999, the thousands of illegal FBI wiretaps excused as mere 'technical violations' by apologists, the dumbing down of the Bill of Rights and the barriers to enforcing a police state in the US.
01/21/10 – Michael Hastings – The Scott Horton Show
Michael Hastings, author of the article 'The Day Democracy Died in Iraq,' discusses US withdrawal plans that are hinged on an orderly Iraqi election in March, the surge’s failure to effect Sunni/Shia political reconciliation, Ahmed Chalabi’s involvement in banning Sunni and secular candidates and why the promise of military aid will likely guarantee Iraqi acceptance of US forces remaining beyond 2011.
01/21/10 – Christopher Manion – The Scott Horton Show
Christopher Manion, columnist for the weekly Catholic newspaper The Wanderer, discusses the two conflicting currents within the Conservative momement, the marked difference between Sarah Palin's carefully crafted image and her actual policy positions, the rotten core of the GOP that is best left to the next generation to fix, the public's misguided reliance on symbolism to categorize political figures and why neoconservatives are more correctly called neoliberals.
01/21/10 – Rep. Ron Paul – The Scott Horton Show
Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) discusses his disinterest in political parties, the slippery slope from indefinitely detaining foreign terrorism suspects to designating domestic criminals 'enemy combatants,' why the US empire is more likely to end from the dollar’s collapse than a reasoned decision to return to a republic, the diminishing returns from intelligence spending and why reestablishing gold and silver as currency is a good idea.
01/20/10 – Shawn Haugh – The Scott Horton Show
Shawn Haugh of HeartsOfLiberty.org calls for donations for libertarian activist and former LP presidential candidate Michael Badnarik who recently suffered a massive heart attack.
01/20/10 – Brandon Neely – The Scott Horton Show
Former Guantanamo prison guard Brandon Neely discusses his recent reunion and reconciliation with two former Gitmo inmates now living in England, his regret for violently restraining a prisoner in an incident that better communication would have prevented, the total discretion of officers in deciding on the treatment of prisoners and the frequent use of Initial Reaction Force (IRF) teams for prisoner beatings rather than control and restraint.
01/19/10 – Sheldon Richman – The Scott Horton Show
Sheldon Richman discusses Lysander Spooner's argument - contra other abolitionists of his day - that the Constitution forbids slavery, Spooner's dismissal of euphemistic language in the Constitution in favor of a pro-liberty reading, the current logical trap that prevents dissent from governmental authority, the myth of "consent of the governed," and why libertarians are against Capitalism (the term, anyway).
01/19/10 – Andy Worthington – The Scott Horton Show
Andy Worthington, author of The Guantanamo Files, discusses the 'supermax' modernization program for Bagram prison in Afghanistan, the Bush administration’s dismantling of proper and longstanding military tribunals for determining a war prisoner’s status (used extensively in the first Gulf War), the Justice Department’s fight to preserve Bagram’s extralegal status, the secrecy still surrounding 'ghost prisoners' held worldwide under US auspices and why the US refuses to release Gitmo prisoner...
01/19/10 – Scott Horton – The Scott Horton Show
The Other Scott Horton (no relation), international human rights lawyer, professor and contributing editor at Harper’s magazine, discusses the evidence in his article that the June 2006 Guantanamo inmate suicides were in fact homicides, the Seton Hall report that debunks the government cover-up story, Gitmo prison guards who saw the three inmates removed from their cells and transported toward infamous Camp 'No' on the night they supposed hung themselves, the Camp America commander’s...
01/15/10 – Nathaniel Raymond – The Scott Horton Show
Nathaniel Raymond, Director of the Campaign Against Torture at Physicians for Human Rights, discusses his organization's investigation into the alleged massacre of Taliban prisoners in 2001, suspected war criminal Abdul Rashid Dostum's connections with the CIA and Hamid Karzai's government that shield him from accountability, three US government investigations into the alleged massacre that were impeded by Bush officials and why Obama needs to be pressured into hastening the massacre study he...
01/14/10 – Dahr Jamail – The Scott Horton Show
Independent journalist Dahr Jamail discusses the Army’s imprisonment of a stop-lossed soldier who expressed his frustration through music composition, military family problems and low morale caused by repeated deployments, the 'psychological implosion' of many shell-shocked soldiers and the unprecedented military suicide rates that threaten to climb even higher.
01/13/10 – John Feffer – The Scott Horton Show
John Feffer, co-director of Foreign Policy In Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies, discusses the US influence in remaking the Japanese government after WWII, the enduring popularity of Japan's Peace Constitution, the Pentagon's recognition that US military bases eventually overstay their welcome even in allied countries, the continued symbolic significance of US gestures of regret for Hiroshima and Nagasaki and how Japanese foreign policy is influenced by antipathy toward N. Korea.
